Thank You, such a small gesture, but saying thank you is all I can do in a written message to you the nobles who honored me by electing me as your Potentate.

Thank you to Ill. Sir. Charles Johnston for selecting me to serve on the divan and allowing me to take the first steps on this incredible journey, to all the potentates I had the honor to serve under these last few years and learn from. A special thanks to Ill. Sir Kurt Frevel and Everett Cook, they say on the divan you grow the most special friendship with the noble ahead of you and the noble behind you. Both of you have taught me more than you can imagine and served as such great friends.

As I’ve mentioned our goals this year are to grow our fraternity, support our philanthropy and have fun as Shrine-Masons. Our new Recorder, Ill. Sir Ray Bosley, PP has agreed to serve as our membership chairman to help us grow the fraternity. His efforts a few years ago brought in the most new members in decades. If you are a noble reading this, ask yourself, what have I done to help bring new masons into Boumi? Ill. Sir Bosley just finished his term in the East at Crescent Lodge, a lodge created to help bring men into Freemasonry and Boumi Shriners lets find men who are not Masons and open this wonderful world to them and find Masons and bring them to Boumi!

Supporting our philanthropy is the greatest thing we can do as Shriners. We plan several trips to the Philadelphia Hospital this year so hopefully you will have a chance to see how we make miracles happen every day. There is already a trip-scheduled fur June 15 for an open board meeting and tours. We hope to have more scheduled before that.

Finally there is the fun that we have as Shrine-Masons. We had a great installation and celebrated the nobility for all you do for Boumi. We have a great year ahead with our Inaugural on February 18, our April cruise to the Panama Canal, The Imperial Session in Daytona Beach in July, MASA in September with plenty of dances, parties and opportunities for fun along the way.

We’ve all been told we get out of our membership what we put in. You have all helped me get so much more than I could ever imagine. Please, use your membership to grow our Fraternity, Support Our Philanthropy And Have Fun In 2017.